CNN, MultiChoice media competition winners to be known July 21

Tanzania has again failed to enter the finals of the prestigious CNN MultiChoice Africa Journalist of the Year 2012 Award. The last time the country produced a finalist in the competition was 2008.

Announcing the finalists on Friday, chair of the independent judging panel, Ferial Haffajee, said this year the competition received entries from 42 countries, including French and Portuguese speaking.

Haffajee, who is also editor-in-chief of City Press in South Africa, said the winners of the competition, which is now in its 17th year, will be announced at an award-giving ceremony and gala evening in Lusaka, Zambia, on July 21, 2012. There were 34 finalists from 12 countries.

The hosts for the evening will be Isha Sesay, host of CNN International's NewsCentre, and Franklin Tembo Jnr, a ZNBC presenter.

The IPP Media is one of the sponsors who continue to support the awards. Others are African Development Bank (AfDB); The Coca-Cola Company; Ecobank; Ericsson; Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), UNICEF and A24 Media.

"The growing quality of the entries we pored over is a reflection of a growing continent claiming its place in the sun. We were impressed by the enhanced quality and competitiveness of the work before us; by the heart and soul poured onto pages and into pixels; by the adventurist spirit of the entries which came from more countries than ever before.

“In print, in radio, in television it is clear that African journalism is in a growth spurt, claiming its stake as world-class and globally competitive,” he said.

However, this year the competition welcomes Nokia on board to sponsor the Digital Journalism Award, joining the above list of sponsors.